How high can your jack-o-lantern fly?

Tuesday

How far do you think you could throw a large pumpkin? (Be careful if you actually try this: You can injure yourself when you throw a heavy object!)

How far do you think you could throw a large pumpkin?

(Be careful if you actually try this: You can injure yourself when you throw a heavy object!)

The distance you can throw a pumpkin will depend on a few things, such as how tall you are and the angle at which you throw it. One significant factor is how fast you get that pumpkin moving by the time it leaves your hands.

If you and I throw a pumpkin, but you get your pumpkin moving faster before it leaves your hands than I do, your pumpkin will probably go farther than mine.

Of course, if you’re going to get involved in a pumpkin-tossing competition with me, you’re probably going to lose, because when I toss a pumpkin, I don’t use my hands. I use Discovery Center Museum’s giant trebuchet.

A trebuchet is a type of catapult. How does it work? Find a sharpened pencil and lay it flat on a table. This is the giant arm of the trebuchet. The eraser end of the “arm” is a heavy counterweight. The sharpened end is where we put our pumpkin.

Grasp the pencil in the middle and twist it back and forth. Notice that as the “counterweight” end goes down, the “pumpkin” end goes up, and vice versa. This is how the trebuchet works: The counterweight goes down and the pumpkin goes flying up.

The trebuchet can throw a pumpkin farther than you can because it moves the pumpkin faster before it lets go.

Imagine you and a friend are in Rockford at noon. You are going to a pumpkin-throwing competition in Loves Park that starts at 3 p.m. Your friend is going to a pumpkin-throwing competition in Springfield that starts at 3 p.m. If you and your friend are going to arrive exactly on time at your competitions, who is going to have to travel faster? Obviously, your friend will have to go faster because your friend has much farther to go.

Look at your pencil model again. If you turn the pencil at the middle again, which part of the pencil is moving the fastest? If you’re not sure, figure out which part of the pencil has to move the farthest. Because every part of the pencil has to move as one, the parts moving the farthest distance go the fastest. Can you understand why we put the pumpkin where we do on the trebuchet?

If you still think you can throw a pumpkin farther than the trebuchet, come to Discovery Center Museum Sunday, Nov. 4, for our Smashing Pumpkins event. From 1 to 4 p.m. we’ll have snacks, crafts, games and lots of trebuchet-powered pumpkin splattering.

Be sure to bring your pumpkins from home so we have lots to toss!

Christopher Bernd is an education specialist at Discovery Center Museum who can’t wait to help you smash your yucky jack-o-lanterns.